TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  The Florida Highway Patrol arrested 537 motorists for driving under the influence during a 19-day holiday crackdown.

The Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 stretch of heightened enforcement throughout Florida also included 16,213 speeding tickets and 4,531 tickets to drivers for not wearing their seat belts.

During the “Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign, the highway patrol increased troopers’ patrols and added reservists and auxiliary troops.

A good percentage of this group of 537 will be convicted of DUI, be forced to pay hefty fines and have their licenses taken away. However, with the help of the Sarasota DUI attorneys here at Musca law many of them would be able be freed of a drunk driving conviction.

If you have been charged with FL DUI you may contact us to schedule a free confidential consultation. Our team of Sarasota  County attorneys has over 100 years combined experience

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As the time of the year when motorists have a reputation for being more likely to drive drunk passes, a pair of Northeast Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it easier for police to make a DUI arrest without a warrant.

The proposal, offered in the House by Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, and in the Senate by Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, would allow officers to make an arrest for drunken driving without the warrant if they have “probable cause” to think a motorist was behind the wheel while intoxicated – whether they saw the person there or not.

With a few exceptions, police have to see a person commit a misdemeanor like most DUIs to make an arrest, even if they have witnesses.

An officer would not be able to arrest a person, for instance, if he or she was stopped at the guard station at a gated community and got out of the car after the guard called police, Weinstein said.

“The police can’t arrest the person for drunk en driving because he didn’t see the person behind the wheel,” said Weinstein, executive director of the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville.

The measure would also allow for warrantless arrests in the case of boating under the influence.

Similar proposals in the legislative session this past spring did not fare well. A House proposal never got a hearing, while its Senate counterpart passed one committee but later stalled. Some critics contend the law would allow police to make arrests based on flimsy evidence.

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